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Interview with Eric Rude Driver for Team 5150
By Frank Riolo
This is the first in a series of interviews with racers from the Sidecar Racers Association.
When did you start racing?
We started racing in 1992. Our entire first season was at Willow Springs.
Were Sidecars the first thing you ever raced?
Yep. In fact, I had never even been to a racetrack before I started racing.
How did you meet "Kung-foo" Kelly Bell and what did he say to get you interested in being a passenger?
He Shanghaied me. I was supposed to be the wrench for the team, but the passenger Kelly originally recruited kept flakin’ out. So there we were one day waiting for this schmuck to show, and Kelly convinced me to ‘just sit in the chair. I won’t go fast’. Well, anyone who knows my driver knows that’s a crock, so I got on and I’ve been lovin’ it ever since.
What sidecar were you racing when you started?
We got a borrowed F2 chassis with a Suzuki Water Buffalo triple two-stroke, hardly any bodywork, hard-as-iron tires that assured us no traction and we put that on the fast track in the west. I think we spent more time working on that thing than we did at our regular jobs.
Tell me about some of the sidecars you've raced over the years.
Well after the Water Buffalo, we bought a short chassis from Bill Becker. Got a GS1100 from God knows where and wedged it in to the machine. We ran that for about 2 years. After that we got our first long chassis from Ken McNeil, a Drifter. Then we decided to go over seas and bought one from a Kiwi in New Zealand. After that, we decided to get back to our roots and we bought a two stroke powered long chassis from a Canadian named Guy. That was a great machine. Then we graduated to the big time last year and got an LCR, a whole new way of racing.
I've seen some of your more spectacular crashes, tell me about the one at Willow Springs and Laguna?
Well, the Willow thing was just plain equipment failure. We were flying down the back straight into turn 8(Leon van Orsdale said we were going so fast that he felt like he was sitting still). It was beautiful; everything was hooking up running perfectly. About halfway through the corner, we suddenly turned left and headed out into the desert. I was looking over Kelly’s shoulder, watching the edge of the racetrack property coming at us really fast, wondering if we were going to stop before we vaulted over the chain link fence and hit the access road that was about 5 feet lower than the berm we were headed for. Well, thankfully the track had decided to till the outer edge of the property that year. As we hit the last 40 feet, we decelerated hard and came to a stop about 5 feet from the berm. You should have seen the look on Kelly’s face when he turned in his seat and face was inches from his. He thought I had been pitched and that was why we’d gone off the track. Turned out that the hub for the chair wheel had been welded rather than billet, and we hit that corner so hard we had broken the hub right in half. We found the wheel (with the other half of the hub) about a mile out in the desert.
Laguna was another story, and it depends on who you talk to what happened, but here’s how I see it. We’d had a bad start from the back of the pack, so we were already playing catch up. Kelly was desperate to get to the front of the pack and made some poor decisions heading down towards turn 11. We have always had (comparatively) low horsepower machines, so we developed a style where we brake late and hard. Well, that day we found out that we had a serious brake failure waiting for us and it decided to show itself right then. So we entered a 50-60 MPH left hairpin doing about 90 with no way to slow down. So, Kelly did what any good driver would do, he pitched it sideways hoping to scrub off some speed and get through the corner. What actually happened is that all that energy went to lifting the chair up and throwing me into the sand. They say I did three cartwheels before I even hit the ground. Kelly is so used to me not coming off that when he saw me on lying on the ground, he just drove over and gave a nod to get back on. I decided to lie there instead, although it turns out that I wasn’t seriously hurt. Ruined my brand new helmet and leathers though.
Kelly is undoubtedly one of the most talented drivers in North America, what besides that has kept you together as a team through thick and thin?
First and foremost, we are good friends. Aside from racing, we’ve been through a lot together. We’ve seen relationships and jobs come and go, moved several times, sometimes across the country. We are more than just a great team.
This is your first year on an LCR, how is it compared to what you used to ride?
There is none. The LCR handles differently, my positions are different, the power and application of it are different, it’s almost like starting over only way faster.
2006 has not been a good season for you. Kelly was ill most of the year, you had mechanical problems and of course the season ending grand finale of breaking some bones. What keeps you going?
The simple answer is that I love speed. But what really keeps me in this sport is the great community that surrounds it. There is something that’s hard to define about how the unique partnership of sidecar racing extends out into everyone who is involved. Also, Kelly and I have become a very good team, and there’s something really compelling about that which drives us to keep going.
I hear you’re getting married soon, congratulations!
Thanks! Julie is great, she has really been there for me with this one armed bandit thing. She’s very supportive of me pursing my dreams, and she knows this is an outlet that I’d go stir crazy without.
What are your plans for 2007 and beyond?
Well, I’m getting married, but as for racing, it’s the same as every year. We’ll be at as many races as possible and do our best to go after the number one plate. We’re going to keep our current LCR for one more year, although we are going to put a new GSXR-1000 in it this year. We’ll be getting a newer chassis for the 2008 season, with plans to eventually do some racing in Europe.
What is your team name?
5150, because we’re obviously not playing with a full deck.
Sponsors?
Barnett clutches and cables sponsors our series and my company, BluQuest Inc. picks up the rest of the tab.
Where do you currently reside?
Seattle, WA.
Age?
36
Favorite movie?
The Matrix.
Favorite food?
Whatever.
How does it feel to be self employed?
It’s a living, I like the freedom.
Hobbies?
Fishing, jet skiing.
Do you ever puke before a race?
No, but Kelly does.
Who is the biggest influence in your life?
My dad, Robert Kiayosaki.
Favorite tracks?
Laguna Seca, Willow Springs.
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